Up for Debate: Ag-gag bill

Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 10:05pm

Do you believe a bill headed to the governor's desk that would required those who record images of animal abuse to turn them over to law enforcement within 48 hours will help fight abuse or only hurt the efforts to document it and therefore prosecute abusers?

125 Comments on this post:

By:Ask01 on 4/19/13 at 4:21

Just another move aimed at protecting businesses from whistle blowers. This seems to be a hallmark of GOP dominated legislatures bent upon clearing the way of bothersome restriction hampering corporate paths to profits at any costs.

While this is troubling, it is only part of the natural order and a cyclic process. Eventually, the pendulum will swing back and those with social consciences will call the shots.

The result will be more regulations and restrictions forcing businesses to be good citizens and, even grudgingly respect workers and the public who fund their lifestyles.

In short, this will all change.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 5:03

From the main article's comment board:

By: Loner on 4/18/13 at 8:19

Cruella de Vil, AKA Dolroes Gresham, one of the cheerleaders for animal torture, has to be on the take to the animal cruelty special interests. What a creepy bitch.

None of this is surprising, the Tennessee Legislature has a difficult time grasping the concept of human rights, therefore they cannot begin to grasp the concept of animal rights...it's just beyond their ken.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 5:10

When government gets "off the backs" of private industry, you get things like fertilizer plants blowing up....and veal calves being skinned alive....and Tennessee walking horses being "trained", by way of torture...abuse thrives when there are no negative consequences for the abuser....the Republican Party is the party of the abuser.

By:govskeptic on 4/19/13 at 5:54

Just another example of how much government hates Whistle blowers even those
with the best of intentions, and not necessarily looking for any rewards. Doing so
will get you fired from many government jobs or brought up on some phony
charges. In this particular example this law acts as a Warning to the offender
versus any real value to the public or certainly the animals being abused. The
Agriculture industry blocks any laws on this issue, even when it often applies
mainly to small pets. We never seem to get enough info on the reasoning by
the sponsors or what actually lobbyist sponsoring or opposing these bills.
Are all our legislators sworn to a wall of silence on these back room antics?

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 6:08

There's no doubt about it, this bill was crafted as a response to the Tennessee Walking Horse scandal in 2012. Here's a refresher:

Dolores Gresham and the other sponsors of this bill are trying to protect that industry from a repeat performance by whistle-blowers.

I know of no other similar laws that apply to undercover investigations of animal abuse, or any sort of abuse or other types of criminal activity....this has to be something quite new....probably an ALEC-crafted law.

Once again, TN leads the race to the bottom....this bill stinks.

By:yogiman on 4/19/13 at 6:18

Anyone who will abuse an animal should be abused themselves. Animals are either part of a family or friend of a family. I've never know of an animal to be an enemy.

By:Rasputin72 on 4/19/13 at 6:27

The story is unfolding in Boston. I think we will find as days and weeks pass that these terrorists had "diverse" thoughts about life in the United States.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 6:46

The Rasp enters the forum with a one-liner that somehow ties the Marathon bombers in with his obsession about diversity in America....I'll give Yogi credit, he stayed on topic and did not mention BHO and the birther thing...maybe there is hope for this forum after all?

By:Rasputin72 on 4/19/13 at 7:34

LONER........I never gave a thought to diversity until I started reading your "diverse" views
about political and social culture in America.

I never give it a thought after I leave this site. I do find comical relief posting my "diverse"
views to your underachieving life philosophy.

No apologies necessary as this is public forum and not a pulpit for your sermonettes.

By:yogiman on 4/19/13 at 7:39

Loner, my friend (as I use the term loosely), I stay on a topic as much as any of you "slick six". But as I have noted in the past, the subject, or subjects, posted had nothing to do with the subject presented by NCP.

Please rest assured, the subject of your man Barry has not been tossed to the wayside. I hope I'm still around when that issue is brought forth. And it could easily be in the next few months.

I think his basic demand on the gun control issue showed many people his basic intention, which is take over the nation.

Why do you think he's in the process of setting up marshal law?

By:yogiman on 4/19/13 at 7:43

Sorry, Loner, I hit the button too fast. I meant to make the remark questioning why Congress (especially the Senate) allowed this 'takeover' to happen from the beginning.

By:yogiman on 4/19/13 at 7:45

Well, I've gotta go drill some holes in my floor joists. And no, not my brain, kids. I'll be back to argue with you later.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 7:48

This isn't a pulpit for my sermonettes?

For years, I've been using this site to preach the Gospel of Brotherly Love....Tolerance...The Golden Rule....Murphy's Law....and all things warm & fuzzy.

Hopefully those seeking 72 virgins will find that those are in fact: Wart Hogs.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 8:03

Have they confirmed it, Ben, that the perps are Chechen Muslims?

I read where the brothers were kids when their parents emigrated to the US....what sort of propaganda did they hear at the dinner table?

Immigrants should leave the Old Country's baggage in the Old Country and not schlep it into this nation....and that goes for all ethnic groups, all races, all religions etc....leave the crap behind, or don't come here.

By:Captain Nemo on 4/19/13 at 8:06

Word is that the suspected murders had a hard time diversifying to society, much like Raspy, yogi and Jugs does.

By:bfra on 4/19/13 at 8:08

Loner - Bringing their crap with them is the main problem with immigrants. They move into a neighborhood & try to make it look like where they came from. They want our laws & customs changed to be like what they left. They want the good free social services but do nothing to earn them.

By:Captain Nemo on 4/19/13 at 8:11

Ben you should practice what you preach. Remember when Gabby was shot in Arizona, you where quick to say we need to get more information before jumping to conclusion.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 8:13

I predict some upcoming name changes for some sports teams...I Googled: boston bombers...looks like that name is being used by some lacrosse, baseball, softball, mens basketball and womens basketball teams and there's even a comic strip named, "Boston Bombers".

http://www.newkadia.com/?Boston_Bombers_Comic-Books=1111135272

This changes all that.

By:Captain Nemo on 4/19/13 at 8:14

bfra-

That is pretty much what Native Americans said when white settlers move in. LOL

By:bfra on 4/19/13 at 8:15

The father of the two says, the one still on the run "is a living angel". The mo of angels ecidently mean different things to different people.

By:bfra on 4/19/13 at 8:16

Nemo - I don't think that would be in the same catagory.

By:Captain Nemo on 4/19/13 at 8:16

There is a saying that keeps repeating itself: What goes around will come around.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 8:20

Gov, re: your 9:03....with eternity on their hands, after a while all the "martyrs" will be "makin' bacon"....and paying for it....the wart hog sows will be the richest creatures in their heaven. naturally, lipstick sales in their Hog Heaven will be brisk. ....they'll be praying for some alcohol too; to make the sows look pretty.

By:Captain Nemo on 4/19/13 at 8:21

I don’t know about that bfra. Maybe you should ask a Native American (of that period) what it was like to have their land invaded by immigrants. Slaughter Buffalos and move you off your land that was in your family for thousands of years.

By:Captain Nemo on 4/19/13 at 8:26

It saddens me to think that the butcher of the Bison Herd of American was for profit.

The Tennessee legislators seem to want to continue this practice.

By:bfra on 4/19/13 at 8:27

Nemo - As a native American, I don't have any relatives still living to ask In those times, there were no laws or courts (no excuse) but now we have laws that these illegals are breaking every day & laughing at our courts, because they can. Different times, different circumstances. I live in today's World..

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 8:27

One could ask a Palestinian Arab what it's like to see their land invaded by immigrants on a mission from God; armed zealots who destroy olive trees on Arab lands to create free-fire zones or to build Jews-Only settlements on the stolen land...or just for shitz & giggles.

By:bfra on 4/19/13 at 8:29

Nemo - Don't let me know if you find a Native American (of that period). I let ghost lie!

By:budlight on 4/19/13 at 8:37

Well, this country is mild compared to the following:

GENEVA (AP) - The U.N.'s top human rights officials is condemning Iraq's widespread use of the death penalty, comparing it to a slaughterhouse.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says Iraq's justice system is "too seriously flawed to warrant even a limited application of the death penalty," let alone its execution of 33 people in the past month or its plans to put another 150 people to death.
Pillay said in a statement Friday that "executing people in batches like this is obscene. It is like processing animals in a slaughterhouse." Her office says Iraq executed 129 people in 2012. At a press briefing her spokesman, Rupert Colville, derided the executions as a "conveyor belt of executions" and said 1,400 people are believed to be on death row in Iraq."

All of you who advocate for animal rights, please tell me this: Are you all vegan vegetarians? Or big ole' meat eaters scoffing up sausage, steak, burgers, poke-chops and the like? If not, you don't have a dog in the fight.

And a bomber who is an angle? That is a oxymoron. Or maybe a contradiction to my definition of an angle. Did they come over from Russia lately to set off the bomb? These people are nuts.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 8:41

In Palestine today...the old ways are still in play....war, occupation, oppression, faith-based bigotry....the rule of law is paid lip service in Israel-Palestine....over there, might makes right...and Uncle Sam arms the mighty ones; while demanding concessions and preconditions from the victims of Israel's pre-emptive wars and their brutal occupation.

The America pioneers pulled off their ethnic cleansing before the advent of mass media, social media, world courts, the United Nations and things of that nature....the Israelis, however are trying to do their ethnic-cleansing and their version of apartheid in the 21st century....and the US is fully backing them.....that's why the Muslims hate us....makes me want to make a sign with this text:

IT'S ISRAEL, STUPID

By:MamaG on 4/19/13 at 8:42

Good morning, fellow posters! This bill stinks like a hog trough.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 8:47

Bud sez: Or big ole' meat eaters scoffing up sausage, steak, burgers, poke-chops and the like? If not, you don't have a dog in the fight.

Bud uses dog-fighting in her analogy...precious.

By:MamaG on 4/19/13 at 8:48

Sidney, I can see your point about meat eaters. I do eat meat and sometimes I feel guilty about it. I love leather and suede leather but I don't think about where it comes from. Maybe I should start doing so.....

By:BenDover on 4/19/13 at 8:52

Here you go Nemo... no jumping to conclusions. I inferred radical fundamentalist from the fact that they blew up the Boston Marathon... here's the Muslim part:

Livestock keepers have a moral responsibility for their animals. as do pet owners...standards are different in each case....animals raised for their meat have been kept out of the natural struggle for existence...no predators, free food, even medical attention at times...but, there comes a payback time...the "harvest time"...if the meat-bearing animal is put down humanely, this give and take is acceptable to a majority of people.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 8:57

Hitler was a vegetarian....just sayin'.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 9:05

The dead bomber was also a boxer, according to the link that Ben provided.

Maybe another brain-concussion-related tragedy?

Just askin

Thanks for the link, Ben....there goes your plan to convert Jihadis by way of sex and alcohol...this A-hole was immune to the treatment....he tried alcohol, than gave it up...then he converted his girlfriend to Islam....reverse assimilation by two assholes?

Out of the millions of vivacious young sexpots to choose from in this country this Jihadist runs into a sexually repressed tea-toddler.

The sick alignment of the tumblers of fate or Allah's intervention?

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 9:22

Good to see Mama G posting here....love your momma G.

By:Loner on 4/19/13 at 9:31

This is not good for Muslims in America....the right wing media, relieved that this was not the work of one of their own, is quick to play the Islamophobia card....and folks are listening to these demagogues. The nuts are being agitated by the professional agitators.....there may well be acts of violence committed in response to this....mass hysteria is setting in.